Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

For other Sisters of Providence congregations, see Sisters of Providence.

Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana
AbbreviationS.P.
Formation22 October 1840; 183 years ago (1840-10-22)
Typereligious institute
HeadquartersSaint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana
Location
  • United States, Asia
General Superior
Sister Dawn Tomaszewski
Websitesistersofprovidence.org
RemarksFounded by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
Church of the Immaculate Conception (Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana)

The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are an apostolic congregation of Catholic women founded by Saint Theodora Guerin (known colloquially as Saint Mother Theodore) at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, in 1840. Mother Theodore and her five companion sisters departed from the Sisters of Providence of Ruillé-sur-Loir, France, at the invitation of the Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, to found the Sisters of Providence in the United States. In 1843, the Indiana congregation became independent of the religious institute in Ruillé, and the Rules of the Congregation were approved by the Holy See in 1887.[1]

More than 5,200 women have entered the Sisters of Providence since 1840.[2] As of 2014, there were nearly 350 sisters in the institute, roughly 300 of whom live and minister from the motherhouse grounds in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Other sisters minister in 17 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Asia.[3]

Currently, foreign missions are in Asia. Former foreign missions were in Peru and Antigua.[4]

Sisters of Providence are designated by the initials "SP" following their name in print. The congregation is a member of the Women of Providence in Collaboration.

Mother Theodore was canonized on October 15, 2006. The miraculous healing in 1908 of Mary Theodosia Mug, who was also her biographer, was finally accepted by the Holy See for her cause for canonization in 2006.[5][6] Her remains are located in her official shrine near the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana,[7] as well as a portion buried in the Sisters of Providence Convent Cemetery.

  1. ^ Dehey, Elinor Tong (1913). Religious Orders of Women in the United States: Accounts of Their Origin and of Their Most Important Institutions. Hammond, Indiana: W. B. Conkey Company. pp. 128–133.
  2. ^ Sisters of Providence Media Kit Archived April 15, 2013, at archive.today
  3. ^ "Who are the Sisters of Providence?". Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference SPsite was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cummings. A Saint of Our Own. p. 221.
  6. ^ Young, Julie (2007). A Belief in Providence: A Life of Saint Theodora Guérin. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Historical Society Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-87195-255-4.
  7. ^ "New Shrine for Saint Mother Theodore Guerin". WTWO Terre Haute. October 3, 2014. Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.